Automatic record changer for various record sizes



Dec. 15, 1953 D. T. DOBROGOWSKI ET AL 2,662,772

AUTQMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD SIZES 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 20, 1949 Zmvemors 0mm. T. DOBROGOWSKI RALPH M. ROEN 88 ROBERT H. J9N$ {ya mtomegs Dec. 15, 1953 D. T. DOBROGOWSKI ET AL 2,662,772

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD SIZES Filed July 20, 1 49 e Sheets-Sheet 2 Zinnenfors. DkNEL T. DOBROGOWSH RALPH M WEN ROBERT n. JONES 40M AMM Gttomegs Dec. 15, 1953 D. T. DOBROGOWSKI ET AL 2,662,772

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD SIZES 4 Snventota DANEL T. DOBROGOWSK) RALPH M ROEN ROBERT H. JONES C(ttornegs Dec. 15, 1953 D. T. DOBROGOWSKI ET AL 2,662,772

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD szz ss Filed July 20, 1949- s Sheets-Sheet 4 Smqentora .05 R5 DANIEL T. DOBROGOWSK RALPH NL ROEN ROBERT H. JONES (Ittornegs Qec. 15, 1953 D. T. DOBROGOWSKI ET AL 2,662,772

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD SIZES Filed July 20, 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 -llilli w h n m I m m 1 lml MS.

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W 3 Ill m n h M m .0 u

W Z I l m m% m I (Ittornegs 1953 D. T. DOBROGOWSK] 5? AL 2,662,772

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD SIZES Filed July 20, 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Zmnentors DRNEL T.- BROGOWSK\ RALPH M. ROEN ROBERT H. JONES (Ittornegs Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR VARIOUS RECORD SIZES Wisconsin Application July 20, 1949, Serial No. 105,864

4 Claims. (01. 274-1) This invention relates to an automatic record changer for various record sizes.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a record changer capable of handling all commercial sizes of records and capable of releasing them from the storage stack in the same manner of each ejection regardles of thickness or diameter of the record. There are currently three sizes of records which are respectively seven inch, ten inch and twelve inch records and the records, even of like dimensions, operate at different playing speeds. It is a relatively simple matter to provide different driving speeds for the turntable, but the center apertures of some of the records are relatively small and the center apertures of others are relatively large and consequently no one has heretofore been able to provide a single escapement mechanism for de= livering single records to playing position from the storage stack. In such devices as are capable of handling the different types of records at all, two different escapement mechanisms have been provided for the large and small hole records.

It is a further major object of the present invention to provide a novel velocity trip mechanism for initiating the record change at the conclusion of a playing operation. It is customary to initiate the record changing operation when the tone arm reaches a given angular position in the course of its following of the record groove.

It is customary to accelerate the movement of the tone arm to record changing position by changing the pitch or lead of the record groove at the conclusion of that portion thereof which bears the sound track. However, in the event that the sound track is unusually long or the changer is not properly adjusted, the changing operation may be initiated before the playing'of the record has been completed. The present invention overcomes this difficulty by an arrangement in which the changing mechanism is set in operation when the record groove is increased in its pitch or lead, and the record changing operation is thus made entirely independent of the angular position of the tone arm at the time so that it will immediately follow the conclusion of the playing of the record whether the record is long or short.

In connection with the object first stated above, it is a further object of the invention to'p-rovide a record changer with interchangeable spindles for the large and small aperture records respectively, the different spindles beingr-espectively keyed so that the insertion of one or the other will automatically condition the apparatus for the return of the tone arm to the record in a position appropriate to start the playing of the the tone arm will return above the record pre- Such stops liminary to a playing operation. must, obviously, be taken from the path'of the associated part of the tone arm before playing commences and, in the course of this process, the tone arm has heretofore swung with entire freedom, it being particularly important in the so-called micro-groove records that there be no resistance whatever to tone arm movement. In order that the record maybe entirely free during playing and may nevertheless be held under control while it is being lowered to the record,it is a purpose of the present invention to provide frictionbrake mechanism functioning only during the lowering operation after the positive stop is ineifective and before playing commences;

Still other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure of our invention with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.

This application contains unclaimed subject matter disclosed and claimed in our co-pending divisional application Serial No. 191,682, filed October 23, 1950, and entitled Automatic Record Changer for Various Record Sizes.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in top perspective of a record changer embodying our invention.

Fig. 21s a View of the apparatus in plan, portions thereof being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a view in transverse axial section through the turntable and a special escapementspindle used for large apertured, small diameter micro-groove records, most of the detailed operating structure beneath the turntable being omitted for clarity.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view in side elevation of the top of the escapement spindle.

Fig. 5 is a detail view in inverted plan of the lower end of the escapement spindle.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the parts in association with an escapement spindle for conventional small aperture records.-

Fig. 7 is a detail view inside elevation of an interchangeable escapement spindle used for small diameter micro-groove records with small central apertures.

Fig. 8 is a view of the record changing apparatus in inverted plan.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail view partially in ide elevation.but=largely1in transverse "section on the line'99 of Fig. 8.- 1

Fig. 10 is a detail view taken in section on the line l0l0 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary detail view in end elevation of the cam surface of a so-called 'swing arm which constitutes the actuating member for the record changing apparatus; F

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary view in inverted plan showing some of the mechanismillustrated-in Fig. 8 as such mechanism appears With'the'so called swing arm and other parts largely broken away,

Fig. 13 (Sheet 2) is a fragmentary detail view of the tone arm stop and brake niechanis'mf Fig. 14 is a fragmentary detail view in longitudinal section through the brak lever and spring. i 1. i Fig. 15 is a fragmentary detail view taken in section on line I l5-|5 of Fig. 16 through the ejector stand. 3 i Fig. 16 is a detail view taken on the line !5-l6 of Fig. 15. I Fig. 17 is a detail view taken in section on line ll4l1 of Fig. 16,

Fig. 18 is a detail view in perspective of the adjustable saddle plate and record ejecting slide mounted therein.

Fig. 19 is a detail View in perspective of the slide.

Fig. 20 is a detail view in transverse section through a fragment of the saddle plate and slide shown in Figs 18 and 19.

Fig. 21 is a fragmentary inverted plan view of the turntable to show the scroll on the under side thereof through which the record changing mech-- fragments of the bed being shown and other porto expose the cam on tions thereof broken away the turntable hub.

Fig. is a view similar to Fig, 24 showing the same parts in different positions.

Fig. 26 is a fragmentary detail view in perspective showing portions of the mechanism 'illustrated in Figs. 24 and 25.

Since much of the record changer mechanism illustrated is old in itself, and one of the diflicult objectives of the present invention has been to provide for the playing of new types of records with a minimum of changes in existingrecordplaying equipment, it will be necessary to describe much that is old before thenovel features of the present invention can be appreciated. 'It' is proposed first, to locate and identify the principal features of the record changing mechanism of the type with which this invention is principally concerned. Thereafter the various parts will be described and their structure and mounting will be detailed from the standpoint of their operation during the normal cycling of the machine; Description of the operation of known parts of the mechanism will be condensed and those featu-re's which are new will be pointed out in the course of the description. l s

The bed 26 conventionally supports a driving motor 21 having a friction wheel at 23 which, through means constituting no part of the present invention may be driven at different speeds subject to the control of a knob 29 for the actuation of thetiirntablefifl at speeds appropriate for the various-types of records. The turntable has a hub 3| journaled on a tubular stud 32 carried by bed 26. For driving the changing mechanism from the motor 21, the under side of the turn tabIe-isprovided with a spiral cam 33 which is known commercially as a scroll. Pivoted on the pintle'34'on the' under side of bed 26 is the lever 35 which isknown commercially as a swing arm andf wh'ich carries at opposite sides of the turntable axis cam follower rollers 35 and 31 which may be raised or lowered as occasion requires to engage the scroll for operation thereby to oscillate the swing arm in one direction or the other, th'e'roller 31 being elevated into the scroll cam in Fig. 2. a

1 'Near one corner of the bed is the pedestal 38 upon which is pivoted thetone arm 49 which carries at its free swinging end theusual pickup or pickups (in this case two separate styli, not shown, are used for the different types of records) a choice therebetween being made by means of the lever 4| (Fig. 1) Near another corner of the bed 26 is the ejector stand 42 which supports the margins of the stored stack of records and cooperates with the escapement spindle for ejection of the lowermost record of the stack to playing position each time the record changer operates.

The record spindle 43 shown in Fig. 6 handles the older or standard type of ten and twelve inch records with small central openings, this being the record commonly reproduced at a playing speed'of 78 R. P. M. It also handles microgroove or LP records with A" center holes and 10" or 12" diameters for operation at 33 R. P. M. The spindle is inclined with respect to its vertical supporting pin 44, the latter extending through anaperture in the turntable and through the bearing stud 32 into a sleeve at 45 beneath the bed 26 which sleeve has a cross pin 46 engaging the flat face 4'! of the pin 44 to key the pin in a position of orientation such that its spindle43 is inclined toward the ejector column 42. A dog at48 in the upper part of the spindle terminates-just above the lowermost record in the stack 49 (12 inch records being illustrated in Fig. 6) andprovides at its lower end, a shoulder which is exposed downwardly and is offset above the shoulder 50 for a distance only slightly in excess of the thickness of the record. When the ejector mechanism hereinafter to be described pushes the lowermost record away from the pedestal 42 and toward the axis of the turntable, the remaining records in the stack do not move with the ejected record and the latter, uponclearing shoulder 50, drops on to turntable 30 for reproduction.

In addition to the central support derived from shoulder- 50, the'records in stac k 49 rest on one of several'shelves provided on the ejector pedestal 42'. In the case of the twelve inch records shown in Fig. 6, the margins rest upon the shelf 52. In the case of conventional; small hole ten inch records, the margins of such records are supported on the shelf 53 of the auxiliary head 54 with which the ejector column 42 is provided."

This head is movable between the inoperative or retracted position in which it is shown in Fig. 6 and the operative position in which it is shown in Fig. 3.- To assist in maintaining the record m stack 49 immobile upon the supports provided at 50 and 52 (or 53) a pivoted hold-down device 55 is used on the column for movement between the operative positions shown in Figs. 3 and 6 and an elevated position which exposes the shoulder for the introduction of new records.

So far as the apparatus has thus far been described, it is all of known construction, However, for the purpose of playing the new seven inch thin records playable at 45 R. P. M., we provide an additional step or shelf at 56 in the auxiliary head 54 and a substitute center post which is shown in Fig. 7 and comprises a pin portion 51, an oifset portion 58 which compensates for the difference in diameter of the records, bringing the center of the stack closer to the column 42 of the ejector, and an upper end portion 59 which is identical in angle and construction with that of the device shown in Fig. 6, having the same shoulders 50 and a similar dog at 48', which, however, may be fixed rather than pivotal. The flattened lower extremity 60 of the pin portion 51 of this device is much shorter than that shown in Fig. 6 on the pin 44' and in this respect is conventional, the flattened portion of the pin 44 being elongated for purposes connected with the present invention and hereinafter to be described.

The large hole seven inch micro-groove records are carried on a third center post shown in Fig. 3. The margin of the lowermost record in the stack still rests on the new shelf 56 provided on the pivoted auxiliary head 54 of the ejector column 42. The pin portion 6| of the center post shown in Fig. 3 is substantially identical with the pin portion 57 of the device shown in Fig. '7, having the same short flattened lower end 60. However, this pin portion extends through a cup-shaped driving element 52 which is rotatably mounted thereon, being confined by a spring ring 63 set into a groove in pin 6!. The lower face of the driving cup 62 desirably has means for increasing its frictional driving engagement with the surface of the turntable, shallow radial teeth 64 being preferred for this purpose, as shown in Fig. 5. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the cross sectional form of the large hole seven inch record is such that the record groove is cut in a peripheral record portion '55 of reduced thickness, leaving only a relatively small diametered central portion 66 for bearing engagement with the turntable. In order that such portion need not receive frictional drag through contact with any stationary part, the cup is made to rotate with the turntable, thereby assisting rather than retarding the assured rotation of the record with the turntable.

- Carried by the pin 6! of the center'post above the driving cup 52 is the center post member 6'.

which guides the record to its proper position on ness of the record portion immediately adjacent,

the hole is a downwardly facing shoulder 10 best illustrated in Fig. 3. The cap H merely consti- 6... position the uppermost records of the stack and to guide them to the ejection position at the bottom of the stack. The surface 12 immediately beneath the cap and above shoulder 10 holds the second lowermost record against displacement while the lowermost record is being pushed laterally in the course of ejection to clear shoulder 69 and thereupon to ride down the inclined surface 68 to be guided on to the turntable and about the driving cup 62 for reproduction.

The three center post devices shown in Figs. 3, 6 and 7 are interchangeable. may be freely withdrawn or inserted in a vertical axial direction. Each of them is restrained from rotation by the cross pin 46 above described and each of them provides a central support for the record which is correctly spaced with reference to the ejector column and is so designed as to function like an escapement to permit ejection of the bottom record from the bottom of the stack into playing position. Although the large hole seven inch records were designed for delivery from the reserve .tack under control of an escapement mechanism housed entirely within the central supporting post, the novel device shown in Fig. 3 enables even these records to be delivered subject to the control of the same ejector which actuates all the other types of records. The specific ejector mechanism is changed but slightly from conventional practice and will be described in connection with a discussion of playing cycle.

Having inserted the center post appropriate for the type of records to be played, the operator loads a stack of such records on to the upper end of the center post, as indicated in Fig. 3 or Fig. 6, and turns the control knob 14 from the ofl position indicated in Fig. 2 through the manual position and the automatic position to the reject position, which it occupies momentarily to initiate the cycle, being thereafter returned either to automatic or manual. The knob 29 will previously have been set to the correct driving speed which it achieves by means of speed controlling mechanism which is no part of the present invention but is generically designated by reference character E5 in Fig. 2 and is operated by arm 76 and bell crank E1 shown in Fig. 8. p

In Fig. 8, the control shaft actuated by the knob or control '14 above described is designated at 18. It is connected beneath the bed 26 with a crank disk 79 which has a cam surface 80 acted on by detent spring ill to define the various positions of the control '74. The pin 82 on crank disk 19 engages the slotted end of lever 83 which is shown in the position of the control which is marked Auto in Fig. 2. A finger 84 on lever 83 is so positioned that in its initial movement from its off position shown in Fig. 8 it will have engaged the notched end of the actuating lever 35 of the motor control switch 86 to start The switch is shown the motor in operation. in its closed position. Another finger 8'! on the lever 83 functions only for the purposes of per: mitting manual and non-automatic operation of the reproducer and will not be described because the present invention is. not concerned therewith. The pin 83 on lever 83 has transmitted motion to a lever 89 which is bifurcated, having arms 99 and Si with upturned fingers 92 and 93 at their respective ends which are disposed at opposite sides of the floating lever 94 for the transmission of motion from lever 89 to lever 94 without any such positive connection as would restrain lever 94 from complete freedom of oscillatory move-= Any one of them mentxwithinrthe limitscdefinedi byttherspacing'; between: fingers 92 :and- ;9 3.? In: order; to .iincrease thelinertiaof IGVEDfBQZtO resist accidental move-..

ments; induced. by vibration, ..while leaving such lever entirely free :-for intended movemrent, .this lever .is :desirably ..provided:.:with :a.-:;weight ":95 :at:

the .endzof. ran: arm-.19 5.

The, levers :formspart'tof. :the1novel' velocity trip-.mechanism which iswzone ofzthemajor fea tures of the present. invention;; It. is fixedmngthe;

lower-rend ofra;rock. shaftfll -(Fig. 23) which rotateslfreelyxina .bushing, 98 carried by the bCdZGJ', This-.zrockzcshaft: extends to a. position? above the. -bed, -.where it carries the arm 980 (Figs. 2:and, 3). whichrhas at :its free end a cam follower. ,roller -99-.positioned :to .coact with a cam Iflhon-the hub portion 3|: of. the turntable 30.

It :willgbe recalledthat Fig." 8 .shows' the parts in .the position-for automatic record changing,

the detentspring .-8I being engaged in:the notch: I0.l -;of1-'the. cam disk-J 9 on the. control shaft '18:

The -.de.tentspring 8 I: resists displacementof .the cam .disk 1 T9 -to :the. reject position indicated "by the -markgReject.: onzthe face; of the bed-.26. In.

the course of movement fronrthe position shown inc-Fig. 8 to thegrejection..position,.the detent' spring-.wi-llyride onrto the elevated surface I02 the, finger 83 on.lev.er: 89- will oscillate rock shaft 91; clockwise. as; viewed :inzFig. 8 and counterclockwise asviewed -.in -Fig. 2,: thereby moving the free end of arm 98.0? toward the-axis of the record turntabler. This lever isapertured and adjacent the aperture are. the :ears. I03,; |U4'-"(Fig. .2 and Fig-.123), which :support a pintlegI05: for the trip.

dog; I06. The transversely extending end IOT of thisdog serves 351.8 ,weight tending-:to'. bias the dog counterclockwise.frorrr.position shown in Fig. 23, but the dog is readily displaceable in clockwise oscillation from'the position shown in Fig. 23.

In theposition in which the dog isillustrated in Fig. 23, it lies in the path'of the arm I08 of a lever I09'which,--in'-turn, ispivoted at IIO to. the swing-,lever 35 and biased by the spring. I I2 to the positionshown in Fig.-8.- Another arm :1 I3 of the lever I09-has-a dependingfingerl I4 (Fi'gsn 8, 22-and 25) which serves as a detent normally engaging the collar -II5 to hold .downthe upwardly biased pin H6 which 'is mounted on the swing lever 3 5, and carries thecam follower roller. I I?! which,.when-released, is forced upwardlylby: compression spring llfl to engage-in the .cam'

scroll; 33.0n the under side of the turntable; Thus, .qthe operatorsmovement of the control knob tothe reject position, .by causing lever 94 to move clockwise, permits dog I06'to drop behindthe side of arm I08. When cam I00 next strikesroller 99'iOn1eVerr98U, the oscillation of suchlever trips lever I09; thereby permitting the driving pin 1 IE to spring upwardly to engage theroller I IT in thescroll of the turntable, which is,in' motion, and which feeds the roller II! toward the turntable axis, thus oscillating the swing lever-.35 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 8. The motion of the swing lever is effective, as will now-be. explained, to lift the tone arm, swing it aside,-eject the first record in" the stored stack 49 fondeliver-y. to turntable and, final1y,toset up a means by.which .-the;motion of theswingarm is ,reversed, and the tone. arm. .is delivered to.

8. proper zpositionrcabove the 1 record rand is lo'wercd into playing engagement therewith.

The tone arm!!! must first be raisedjas, in'ordi-' nary ejection; it might have its stylus-in contact" with the sound groove of arecord; Figs'9 shows the tone arm in playing-positiomits' stylus being. supported on arec0rdioronrthe.turntablerr- The tone'armis freely; oscillatable on the pintled 03 which connects it to a bracket: I20 swiveled on the tone arm supporting post 38. A'counter balancing spring 'I2I carries some of the weight: of the tone arm whichis biased by gravity :in opeposition-to such. spring. Extending: down 'cen'-: trallythrough the supportingpost 38 a pushrod [22,1'11'19 lower end of which is exposed as shown'in Fig; 9 and Fig. 11 to "be-engaged DYEH" cam surface at. I23 on the end of the swingleven 35 which projects outwardly beyond 'its fulc'rum'r' 34. Consequently, the initial. oscillation: of. the swing :lever. .in response to 1 its actuation. bycthe scroll 33 as above described will involve the en'- gagement of cam-I23 withthe push rod-I22 which, I acting -on the under. surface of the channeled: tone arm '40 will-overcome the gravity bias of the: tone arm and liftthe free end thereof;

For the swinging :movement of the tone-aim bracket .I20 .upon -the-.post- 38," the" bracket- 1s mounted on a hub or bushing I24 'whichextends i downwardly through the tone 'arm' post: 38 and carries a clamp-I25 which includes ardisk orseg-ev ment -I26,-'the free margin OfWhlCh-is exposed to be-engaged-between spring. fingers I21 'and 'I20: carried by the swingplever .35 as shown in Figsfi 8,9 and 10.v These fingers are in such proximity that..as.they:-engage the-segment I26 they -are= spread'thereby and:their resilient bias exerts a frictional driving torque upon the hub or bushlng I24 tending to oscillate such bushing. and, with itg the. bracket I20 and the tone arm, the direction of oscillation beingwsuch as. to swing-the tone: arm aside .to fully expose theturntable.

Theinitial movementof the swing lever hav-'- ing .elevated the tone amp-and its continuing movement having swung the tone arm aside; the"- swing. lever now operates th recordejecting mechanism-to release a record fromthe stored stack... For. this purpose theswing lever is provided/with a lateral extension I29 (Fig. 8): which acts .ontheroller I 30 of lever I 3I to reciprocatetherod I32 .(Fig.-8) thereby actuatingflever I33 (Fig; 15) against .the tension of spring 134; I This leverhas its remoteend engaged in a slot in the ejector plate I35, whereby the oscillation of thelever moves the ejector plate forwardly to push a twelve inchrecord from theshelf or shoulder 52,. the thickness of the plate bein no greater than the thickness of the record disk, whereby": only the lowermostrecord of the stack is-acted upon, the remaining recordsbeing-fixed againstfrictional movement by the-dog 480i the-record post shown in Fig. 6.

Where. any seven or .ten inch record -with'%.-. inch center. hole is to be handled by theappa ratus, the auxiliary head 54 -is lowered to-the position shown in Fig.. 15, whereby the supporting shelf or shoulder 53 is made-available at the proper radialdistance from the center post 43- or 58. To transmit the motion of theejector- I to sucha record, the head 54-is providedwith a slide I which is separately illustrated in Fig. 19 and is'shown assembled in the head in Fig. l8=and.Fig.20. This slide has the form ofa channel with-its transverse'web uppermost inthe 7 plane of the .-ejector plate 135, so that the slide is acted upon bythe ejector-plate-in the same-man her as the twelve-inch record was acted upon, the slide serving to transmit the motion of the ejector plate to the ten-inch record to push the latter from the shelf or shoulder 53.

Assuming that the post shown in Fig. 3 for the 45 E. P. M. type of seveninch records is in use, the greater offset of the post enables the seven-inch record to be positioned on the ejector column in a manner such that the margin of this seven-inch record rests on the shelf or shoulder 56 (see Figs. 3, 15 and 18). As above noted, this shelf or shoulder is new for the purposes of the present invention and,.in order to permit a record to be ejected therefrom in a manner corresponding to the ejection of other records, the slide I46 is provided for the purposes of this invention with upstanding lugs at I4I for which the head 54 is relieved to provide clearance. Thus, the forward movement of the slide I66 will eject any record supported either on the shoulders 53 or 56 of the head 54, whether such records be ten-inch records or seven-inch records. c

The record released will immediately be guided down the inclined portion of the center post between the stack supporting portion thereof and the mounting pin and will be deposited in playing position on the rotating turntable 30. It is now necessary to reverse the direction of oscillation of the swing lever 35 in order to return the tone arm to a proper position over the record to initiate the reproduction thereof and it is necessary to predetermine such position with considerable accuracy, having in mind the dimensions and type of record. The means by which the direction of oscillation of the swing lever is reversed will first be described.

It will be recalled that the swing lever is being oscillated counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 6 by reason of the engagement of roller II1 with driving scroll on the under side of the turntable. At the inner end of the scroll there is a cam surface I 43 (Figs. 21 and 23) which functions as a resetting cam to force the roller H1 and its driving pin H6 downwardly against the compression of spring H8 to a position where the washer I I5 will again be caught and held by the detent finger II4 as in Fig. 22. This detent finger is at the end of the lever I09, which was previously displaced in consequence of the manual operation of lever 94, which placed dog I06 beside margin I03 of lever I09 to be acted on by cam I through lever 960 as above described. In the meantime, however, the detent lever I 09 has been restored to its original position by the bias of spring II2, the entire lever I09 having been transported away from the trip dog bodily by the movement of swing lever 35 upon which lever I09 is pivoted. Consequently, when the resetting cam I43 pushes the roller and pin out of the scroll, the detent is again effective to restrain these parts in their retracted position.

On the other side of the turntable axis, the swing lever 65 carries another driving pin I44 which mounts a cam follower roller I45 substantially identically with pin H6 and roller II 1 as shown in Fig. 22. In this instance, support for the washer I46 is provided by an inclined cam flange I41 on a lever I 46 also pivoted to the swing lever and biased in a clockwise direction about its pintle I49, as viewed in Fig. 8, by a torsion spring I50. The bell crank lever I48 has an arm at II provided with a roller I52 engageable with a fixed stop I53 mounted on the bed 26. As the swing lever 35 reaches the extreme of its movement,

whereby the driving roller 31 and driving pin II6 are ejected from the scroll, the bell crank lever I48 will be oscillated counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 3 by contact of roller I52 with fixed stop I53 whereby the detent flange I51 is moved out of engagement with the washer I46 thereby allowing this pin to be projected upwardly to engage roller 36 in. the scroll. This immediately initiates a reverse movement'of the swing lever 35 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 8 and the frictional engagement of its spring fingers I21 and I28with the segment I25 of the tone arm mounting bushing I24 will impositively actuate the tone arm in a direction which is clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2, thereby tending to move its free end, and the stylus therein contained (not shown) into a proper position over the start of the record groove in the record.

The drive of. the tone arm toward playing position is impositive in order that the tone arm may be stopped at the appropriate point. This point must be separately determined for each style of record. For this purpose, the portion I54 of clamp I25 (Fig. 9) is extended in the form 1 of an arm I55 (Figs. 8, l2 and 13) with outwardly surfaces aforesaid are presented to the finger I56 according tothe angular adjustment of lever I60. This adjustment, in turn, is determined'in part by the position of a slide I62 (Figs. 8, 12 and13) and in part by. the upwardly projecting finger I63 on lever I64 shown in Figs. 3 and 6, as well as Figs. 8 and 12. A tension spring I65 acts on lever I60 in a directiontending to oscillate this lever counterclockwise from the position shown in Fig. 12 to that in which it is shown in Fig. 13. The spring is anchored in a guide'post I61 which extends through a slot of slide I62 for the guidance thereof as shown in Fig. 12.

Reciprocation of slide I62 is controlled by pivotally connecting the remote end thereof to a lever I68 which extends up within the ejector column 42 as shown in Fig. 16 and is provided at its upper end with a pair of spaced fingers defined on an intervening notch at I69 in which acts the cooperating finger I10 connected with the'auxiliary head 54. When the head is lowered in the position indicated in Figs. 15 and 17, the

lever I68 is oscillated clockwise as viewed in Fig.

1'1 whereby the slide I62 is projected to the left as viewed in Figs. 8 and 12, the movement of the slide then being such that when one lever I60 oscillates against the end of the slide, such lever will present its stop surface I58 to the finger I56 to position the tone arm for commencing the play of a ten inch record. If the '11 tion the tone arm at the angle proper-f or initiating play of a twelve inch record.

Obviously, if a seven inch record is to be played, the tone arm angle to initiate play thereof, is quite radically difierent from the angle appropriate for starting play of a ten inch or twelve inch record. Moreover, this difference is not one which is represented by any change in position of the auxiliary head of the ejector column, since such head is in the same position for the play of a seven inch record that it occupies for the play of a ten inch record. Accordingly,-it is novel in the present invention to provide entirely distinct means for automatically fixing the new tone arm position required for seven inch records.

To this end, the lever I64 is pivoted on a bracket I12 which depends from the bed plate 26, the leverI64 extending from its fulcrum toward the turntable axis and being provided with a plate 118 in line with such axis as indicated inFigs. 3,, 6, 8 and 12. A springl14 connected in .any suitable manner with the lever I64 biases such lever upwardly toward the position in which it appears in Fig. 3 so thatwhen either of the pins 51 or 6I is inserted for playing either 33 or 45 seven-inch records, the finger I63 will be elevated into thepath of oscillation of lever I60, as shown in Figs. 3 and 1 3. Thus, in the playing of a seven-inch record, whether of the small hole type such as is mounted on the post 59 of Fig. "7, or the large hole type mounted on the post I I, 12 of Fig. 3, in either case it will be the finger I63rather than the slide, I62 which will determine theposition of the sto lever I60. However, when the pin 44 ofpost 43;is positioned for the playing of either ten or twelve inch records, the elongatedfiattened end portion 41 of pin44 willprojectbeyond the cross pin .46 to engage the plate I13 and depress lever I64 against the bias, of its supporting spring,.whereby to retract finger I63 from thepath of stoplever I60, leaving the slide I62 to 'determine the position of the stop leverin accordancewith prior art practices. It isto be noted thatwhereas in the prior art the position of the stop leverisdetermined incidentallyto the adjustment of the auxiliary head of the ejector column, the different position required for seveninch records determined, equally automatically, as an 7 incident to theselection qf the proper post for the playing of a seven-inch,, as distinguished fromatenor 'tw elve-inchrecord.

' The tone arm isnow positioned above the record at the proper' angle to initiate play, but must f be lowered to bring its stylus incontaet with the record. It must also be freed f rom,PO$. ti ve 11 straint by the stop surfaces I51, 158 and I56, as these surfaces 'are in the path in which the ,tone arm must. move during the playing of the record. Meantime, afterv the restraint is, removed, and pending engagement of thestylus with the .record groove,.it .is animportantfeature of the invention .to steady the tone arm impositively a a n a ide t di pl m tr in t e. selec .d angle. 'lhisis accomplisheddl ring thecontinued movementpf the swing lever '35 consequent upon the.travel of the-roller -31 in the scroll 33 on the under side of the turntable. The swing arm can continue to move notwithstandingthat the tone arm-islocked, since the driving connection between these parts is entirely impositive and irictional, being achieved by the frictional contact of the spring fingers I21 and I28 with the segment I25, as shown; in a Fig. 9 and above described.

The removal of the positive stopis effected by direct engagement of the'lug' I15 on the swing arm with the edge surface I16 of lever I60. This lug may conveniently be struck from the Swing arm, forming therein the notch indicated at I11 in Fig. 8. In the described oscillation of the swing arm in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig 8, the lug I15 is moving from the position in Fig. 13 to'the position in Fig. 12 and. in so doing has engaged the side marginal portions I16 of lever I60, swinging such lever clockwise as viewed in Fig. 12 to remove its several stop surfaces I51, I58 and I59 completely out of the path ofthe finger I56 of lever arm I55 which, it will be recalled, is comiected to turn with the tone arm. 'Due to the extreme freedom of movement with which the tone arm oscillates, the tone arm would now be completely at the mercy of any vibration or gravity influence to change its position from that so accurately determined by the stop surfaces aforesaid. To prevent this, we provide on the extension I18 of arm I55 a brake shoe I which takes the preferred form ofv an upstanding post having. a reduced portion, guided in a slot in arm extension I18 (Fig. 14) and subject to the bias of a spring such as the looped clock spring shown at I 8| in Figs. 12, 18 and 14. Cooperating with the brake shoe is the coacting arcuate arm I83 of lever I84 which is pivoted to the under side of the bed plate. In the operative position of lever I84 in which such arm I83 bears against the spring brake shoe I80 as shown in Fig. 13, the outer margin of the lever arm is concentric with the axi upon ,which the tone arm oscillates. The lever I84 ispushed into this positlon by the aforesaid lug n5 of'the swing arm --35 as the latter makes the first described oscillation to swing the tone arm free of the turntable. Ifhere is an interlock between the stop lever I60 andthe brake lever I84 as shown in F1g.-13. "I'he finger I of the stopleverisnormally engaged above the shoulder I86 of brake lever I84 in the position of the parts shown in Fig.12, the stop lever being thus preventedfrom moving into its operative stop positionuntil the lever I15 has pushed the brake lever I84 to engage its braking arm I63 with the brake sho I80. As soon as this has been effected, as shown in F g. 13, the stop lever I60 drops into stop position but its finger I85 now engages the marginal surface I81 of the brake lever below its shoulder I86, as viewed in Fig. 13, so that the brake lever is locked in pressure contact with the brake shoe I80 in a position from which it cannot depart until, on the return stroke of the swing lever 35, the reengagement of lug I15 with the stop lever forces the stop lever back to the position of Fig. 12 against the bias of its spring I65, thereby, in the final movement of the swing lever, releasing the'brake and relieving the pressure-of the-brake arm I83 on the spring shoe.

As the swinglever approaches the point where therelease of frictional braking pressure is effected, the movement ofthe cam portion I23 of swing lever 35 beneath the thrust rod I22 is now occurring in a direction to the left, as viewed in Fig. 11, whereby such rod is gradually lowered to deposit the stylusat the free end of the tone arm on the record groove. Such dep0sit occ urs slight 1y prior, to thetime when the finger I 85 of the stop lever clears shoulder I86 to release the braking pressure as above described. The tone armnow floats entirely free and moves in response to the 13 travel of its stylus in the record groove of the record during the entire playing of the record.

While the functioning of the interlocking arrangement between the stop lever and the brake lever has been described with particular reference to the maintenance of braking pressure until the stylus can be lowered into playing position, it has been found that thi interlock is also effective to overcome another difliculty exper enced with prior art record changers. In previous record changers of this general type, there has been some difficulty when a record was rejected after having been played about halfway through. Under these circumstances, the arm I55 which partakes of the angular movement of the tone arm will have moved counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 12 to a position where its finger I56 may be struck by one or another of the stop surfaces of the end of stop lever I60 upon the release of such stop lever. The stop lever is being held aside by the lug I15 on the swing arm and the first thing that happens following a rejecting operation as already described above is to initiate the movement of the swing arm by engagement of one of its actuating rollers in the scroll cam of the turntable. This causes the lug I15 to be moved to the left as viewed in Fig. 12 and it will be followed by lever I60 under the bias of spring I65. When this movement progresses sufficiently far, so that the stop lever engages the finger I56, it tends to wipe the stylus across the record grooves and this is not merely noisy in the reproducing mechanism but tends to damage the record. The addition of the intervening brake lever I64 has solved this problem, since the stop lever I60 instead of following lug I15 as rapidly as such lug moves out of its path, is arrested by the interlock of finger I85 of the stop lever behind shoulder I66 of the brake lever. This arrests the movement of the stop lever until the brake lever is moved into braking engagement with the spring shoe I89, as shown in Fig. 14. Only at this time is the stop lever free for oscillation and, since this occurs only near the conclusion of swing arm movement, the tone arm and its associated lever I55 will already be swung completely out of the way to the position shown in Fig. 12. Moreover, at that time, the braking pressure has already been developed between the brake shoe and the braking arm I 63. Such braking pressure continues effective during the return movement of the tone arm to playing position as determined by the stop lever. However, the braking pressure is relatively light and the frictional driving pressure of the spring fingers shown in Fig. 9 is more than adequate to cause the brake to slip until the desired position is reached.

A further major feature of the present invention is the velocity trip previously referred to. Much of the structure involved in its operation has already been described with the exception of details particularly shown in Figs. 8, 23, 24 and 25. It will be recalled in discussing the initiation of a playing cycle, reference is made to a rejecting operation involving the rotation of the cam 19 to transmit motion to levers 83, 89 and 94 to oscillate rock shaft 91 to a position where the trip dog I06 would drop from the position of Fig. 8 and Fig. 23 to lie behind lever I08. Thus, when lever 980 carrying the trip dog I06, is acted upon by the cam I on the turntable hub, this occuring once in each turntable rotation, the trip dog I06 displaces lever I09 to release the roller 31 for upward movement into the turntable scroll and initiate oscillation of the swing" arm for record changing purposes. A similar sequence of operations is achieved automatically whenever the stylus 200 (Fig. 1) at the free end of tone arm 40, moves from the low pitch record groove portions 20I on to the relatively high pitch record groove portion 202 near the center of the record, after the conclusion of the playing of the record.

To achieve this result, the tone arm hub I24 carries at its lower end a frictionally driven arm 204 (Fig. 9), the upper surface of which contacts. a bracket 205 suspended from clamp I25 to provide clearance for the operation of the cam and push rod which lift and lower the tone arm as above described. Depending from the bracket is a rod 206 carrying a'spring seat 201 upon which the compression spring 208 is carried to supporta friction washer 209 with the bracket 205, the:

arm 204 being lightly clamped between the bracket 205 and washer 209.

As the tone arm changes its angular position. consequent upon the following of the record. groove by the stylus, the arm 204 moves with it;

and, bearing against the depressed end of lever' 94 as shown in Fig. 8, the tone arm movement is communicated to lever 94, this lever being free.- for oscillation with rock shaft 91 between the: actuating fingers 92, 93 as already described:

However, it will be remembered that rock shaft 91 extends above the bed 26 and is there provided? with an arm 980 having at its free end a cam fol-- lower roller 99 and having intermediate its endsthe trip dog I06 which is normally engaged with the end of lever I09 but is gravity biased so that,. upon-clearing such lever, it will drop to the posi-- tion shown in Fig. 25 for the transmission to such lever of the impulse imparted to roller 99 by cam I 00 once in each rotation of the turntable.

As the stylus 200 follows the sound recording portion 20I of the record groove, the tone arm movement thus communicated through bracket 205 frictionally to the arm 204 and thence through lever 94 and rock shaft 91 to the cam follower arm 900, gradually moves the arm 96 to a position where the roller is contacted by cam I00. The relative lengths of the lever arms in-' volved is such that the position shown in Fig. 24: is reached well before the stylus reaches the end. of the transcribed portion of the record groove. From this point on until the stylus reaches the end of the portion 20I of the record groove, angular motion derived by the tone arm during each. rotation of the record will be communicated.

. through the lever system above described to] move the velocity trip dog I06 slightly closer to the corner 2I0 which it must clear before reach-' ing the position of Fig. 25. However, the cam. I00 on the turntable hub will, in each rotation, engage the roller 99 in a direction to reverse theoscillation of the several levers, thereby moving the parts back to the position of Fig. 24, such reversal of lever movements being made possible by the fact that the lever 204 at the bottom of the tone arm hub is only lightly driven frictionally and can readily be made to yield with respect to the tone arm hub.

Thus, during approximately the last third of the period of record reproduction, each rotation of the turntable causes the trip dog to approach the corner 2I0 to an extent which is materially less than the initial distance of the dog from such corner. Then, in the same rotation of the turntable the engagement of the roller 99 with cam I00 pushes the trip dog back substantially to its original position. Thus, the only way in which the trip dog can ever clear corner 21-0 is to reach the corner by moving farther in the course of a single turntable rotation than it normally moves during record reproduction. This finally happens when the stylus reaches the high pitch portion 202 of the record groove. The relative rate of angular movement of the tone arm in the course of a single turntable rotation is thereby accelerated and the consequent increased displacement of the several levers in the motion transmission system becomes suificient so that the trip dog reaches corner 2I0 of lever I09 and falls in response to its gravity bias along side such lever before cam I reaches cam follower roller 99 to nudge the trip dog back to its original position. Now, when the cam I00 reaches roller 99 the effect thereof is communicated positively through the trip dog to lever I09 to release roller 31 for upward movement in the scroll 33 whereby the swing lever 35 is set in motion and a change of record is effected. As above noted, it is important that this be accomplished as a consequence of the change in angular velocity of the tone arm as distinguished from a mere change in angular position thereof, since the angular posi tion of the tone arm is not the same at the conclusion of all records. Thus, the improvement brings about a record change immediately on the conclusion of the playing of all records, regardless of whether these are long or short as compared with the average, and it is unnecessary to provide any latitude for the accommodation of records which are unusually long. Neither is there any instance in which the reproduction of a long record is discontinued prior to the completion thereof.

As already stated, lever 94 (Fig. 8) is left entirely free for automatic operation in the functioning of the velocity trip mechanism during ordinary operation. However, such lever may be actuated manually in either direction by the long finger 92 or the short finger 93 of lever 89. For manual operation of the player mechanism, the control knob 14 is operated to the position indicated by the legend manual in Fig. 2 and this transmits motion through the cam lever I9 and lever 83 to lever 89, causing the long finger 92 to positively engage lever 94, thereby moving such lever to its inoperative position and rendering the automatic trip mechanism inoperative.

In the reject position of the control knob, the short finger 93 engages a leaf spring 2I2 beneath lever 94 (Fig. 26) to displace this lever impositive- 1y so that if the knob is held in the reject'position, no binding or dallying of thev parts will occur during the ensuing changing operation.

We claim:

1. In a record changer for a phonograph having a turntable and a tone arm provided with a stylus adapted to follow the groove of a record having a low pitch groove with sound recorded thereon and a relatively high pitch groove portion leading centrally from' the groove first mentioned, the tone arm being mounted for angular movement as the stylus follows such groove, the combinationwith means for moving the tone arm from operative position over the record, and including a cam scroll on said turntable and a cam follower connected to said turntable, said cam follower having a mounting biasing it toward engagement with the scroll, of trip means normally holding the cam follower against said bias, and a trip actuator comprising mechanism responsive to. the velocity of angular. displacement of the tone arm as the stylus traverses the groove portion of high pitch and non-responsive to the displacement of the tone arm as the stylus traverses the low pitch groove, whereby said trip actuator functions independently of the angular position of the tone arm, said mechanism including a normally retracted trip dog in impositive driven connection to said actuator and having lost mo tion driving connections with said trip means whereby said actuator gradually moves, during stylus traverse of the low pitch grooves of the record, said trip dog from retracted position toward a position in which it is in a position for driving engagement with said trip means in a reverse direction, means for resetting said trip dog in said reverse direction and toward its re tracted position periodically in the course of record rotation, said lost motion connections being such that increments of advance of the trip dog between its periodic retraction is insufficient to advance the trip dog to reverse direction driving engagement with the trip means during low pitch stylus traverse but is sufli'cient, during high pitch stylus traverse, to advance the trip dog to reverse direction driving engagement with the trip means before retraction, whereby the next succeeding movement of said resetting means will drive said trip dog in said reverse direction to actuate said trip means to release said cam follower for engagement with said cam scroll.

2. A velocity trip mechanism for the control of record changing in a phonograph having a turntable, a tone arm swingabie to and from operative position over the turntable and provided with a record groove stylus, and a swing arm having portions at opposite sides of the turn table and first and second cam followers on said portions selectively engageable' with a scroll with which said turntable is provided,- the swing arm having driving connections to the tone arm for the movement thereof, the said velocity trip mechanism including a cam connected with the turntable, a third cam follower disposed in the path of said cam to be operated thereby in the course of turntable rotation, a control for one of the first mentioned cam followers operable to effect engagement thereof with said scroll, motion transmitting connections from said third cam follower to said control and including a normally retracted dog operative only when advanced from its said retracted position for the actuation of said control, other driving connec-' tions from the tone arm including impositive means for advancing said dog in the course of each record rotation from its retracted positiontoward its advanced. position in increments respectively' dependent on the pitch of the record groove portion traced by the stylus in the course of such rotation, the said motion transmitting connections having an increment of operation upon said dog insufficiently great to permit the dog to reach operative position while the stylus is tracing a low pitch portion of the record groove and sufficiently great to permit the dog to reach itsoperative position as soon as the stylus begins to trace ahigh pitch portion of the record groove.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a phonograph turntable and a tone arm provided with a hub mounted for oscillation and having an impositive friction clutch, of afirst arm connected to receive motion from the tone arm through said friction clutch, a cam connected with the turntable, leve'r means comprising one cam follower arm cooperative with said cam to receive motion therefrom periodically during the rotation of the turntable and another arm positioned in the path of said first impositively actuated arm to receive motion therefrom in the course of tone arm oscillation on said hub, the motion imparted to the lever means by said first arm being opposite to the direction of motion imparted to the lever means by said cam, a trip dog carried by the lever means in a normally retracted position from which it tends to be advanced to- Ward one operative position by said first arm and to which it tends to be returned by said cam, and a record changing control in the path of the trip dog and positioned to be actuated by the trip dog when the latter reaches an operative position, and as motion is transmitted to said control through said dog from the lever means and said cam, said lever means comprising an inertia weight tending to hold said lever means in any position to which it is adjusted, the said lever means being mounted for free oscillation from any such position.

4, In a device of the character described, the combination with a phonograph turntable and a tone arm provided'with a hub mounted for oscillation and having an impositive friction clutch, of a first arm connected to receive motion from the tone arm through said friction clutch, a cam connected with the turntable, lever means comprising one cam follower arm cooperative with said cam to receive motion therefrom periodically during the rotation of the turntable and another arm positioned in the path of said first impositively actuated arm to receive motion therefrom in the course of tone arm oscillation on said hub, the motion imparted to the lever means by said first arm being opposite to the direction of motion imparted to the lever means by said cam, a trip dog carried by the lever means in a normally retracted position from which it tends to be advanced toward one operative position by said first arm and to which it tends to be returned by said cam, and a record changing control in the path of the trip dog and positioned to be actuated by the trip dog when the latter reaches an operative position, and as motion is transmitted to said control through said dog from the lever means and said cam, in further combination with manually operable lever means including spaced fingers disposed at opposite sides of the lever means aforesaid, the said fingers leaving the first mentioned lever means free for oscillation independently of the manually operable lever means except during manual operation of the latter.

DANIEL T. DOBROGOWSKI. RALPH M. ROEN. ROBERT H. JONES.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,063,199 Slater Dec. 8, 1936 2,270,179 Wright Jan. 13, 1942 2,271,001 Fortune Jan. 27, 1942 2,330,293 Knox Sept. 28, 1943 2,352,331 Leline June 27, 1944 2,376,741 Weaver May 22, 1945 2,390,862 Alexandersson et al. Dec. 11, 1945 2,394,539 Erwood et a1 Feb. 12, 1946 2,488,260 Ascoli Nov. 15, 1949 2,490,678 Dale Dec. 6, 1949 2,568,496 Hall Sept. 18, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 572,688 Great Britain Oct. 18, 1945 

